Between Thieves and Elves
by Ionia Metallium-Greywers
Summary: [Original Work] A confrontation between two original characters of mine, Marik and Sylanis.


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Between Thieves and Elves

Author's Note: This is a short story I had to write in my acting/drama class. It's using original characters. I seem to like them, perhaps I'll write a longer, more involved story with them later. Or I might even make a webcomic, if I get enough inspiration! ^.^

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'So it's true,' he thought. _'It's really true.'_

Marik slowly approached the dimly-lit pedestal, fingers flexing anxiously in his cut-off gloves. The Flame Diamond, the jewel that had lived on in the myths and legends of thieves for centuries, lay right before him. The moonlight from outside seeped through a hole--almost strategically placed--in the ceiling, right above the pedestal, refracting through the gemstone onto the walls in a brilliant display of fiery red light.

"No! Do not touch that jewel!" His companion, Sylanis, warned from behind him in a thickly accented derision of the Common tongue, her arm outstretched as if to pull him back.

The thief turned his head slowly, looking back at his Elven companion, his own arm still reaching for the precious treasure. "Why shouldn't I?"

"You know as well as I that the Flame Diamond is a cursed jewel. You know the stories better than anyone, thief!" Her auburn eyes flashed with frustration. "Anyone who touches that jewel suffers from a horrible, instantly fatal illness! Worse than the sting of a thousand wasps, I've heard!"

"Then who's returned to tell the tale?" Marik momentarily forgot his prize, turning around, hands on his hips. He was never one to turn down an arguement, especially with Sylanis.

"The tales are myths! Legends! But that does not make them simple children's stories! Myths, legends, they all have truths in the midsts of their falsities. You cannot just ignore them."  
  
"There. You just said it yourself," he mused with a chuckle. "They're all just myths and legends! So none of it can be true." He placed a hand on Sylanis' shoulder, a comforting gesture to the seemingly hyperventilating Elf-woman. "Besides, you honestly think that I'll just sit pretty, when the treasure of all treasures sits in front of me, ripe for the taking?" Marik smiled, and patted the shoulder his hand lay on. "I'll be alright, there's no need to worry. I've been through worse, remember? I _am_ a thief."

Sylanis' expression slowly contorted into one of anger. "Fool! I don't know why I even bother! I only followed along with you because you saved my life! I am bound to stay with you until I can repay the favour! That is the code of my race, and that is precisely what I'm doing right now: saving your life in return for saving mine! And you won't heed my warnings? What fools humans are!"

"And what stick-ups Elves are!" Marik huffed, glaring slightly. "I never asked you to tag along with me! I could have left you to die back there! But no, I felt compelled to be a civil citizen, and I kept that pack of wolves from eating you alive, and for what? Now I'm getting kept from the most valuable gemstone in the known world?" He mocked insult, posing with his hand in a fist on his chest. "You just don't do that to a skilled liberator of items such as myself! I am deeply wounded!"

Sylanis turned around in a fury, heading for the tunnel they had recently entered the small treasure chamber through. "I cannot take any more of this! Code or no code, there are some people that just aren't worthy of being protected! I am leaving, and you--"

"Sylanis?"

"--cannot stop me!" Her fury set her off into a flurry of harsh-sounding Elvish.

"Sylanis!"

"Oh, what is it now?! Do not think you can beg me to come back!" Her head whipped around, her hair lashing through the air in a golden arc.

"You left your dagger." Marik held it out, a bit timidly. Alright, so she hadn't really _left_ it...

"...oh." Shaken out of her anger only slightly, Sylanis turned around fully, and stepped towards the dark-haired thief. "..I thank you greatly."

"...look, I..." He paused, collecting himself. "I'm sorry I didn't take your advice like I should have. I need to learn to listen to others." He handed the ebony-hilted blade to the fair-skinned Elf, looking at her seriously, for the first time since they had met.

In turn, she took the dagger, looking at him sincerely, then smiled, her fury cooling off. "And I, too, must learn, but my learning is far different than yours, for I must learn to control my temper." She rolled the scabbard-sheathed dagger in her hands, inspecting it as if it were new. "...perhaps we can learn from each other, seeing as you seem to have excellent control over your anger..."

Marik laughed. "Yes, and I can learn to listen from you. You must do a lot of listening, being an Elf and all."

She tried not to take it as an insult, as it was very obviously not intended to be, and smiled. "Yes...I believe a further journey together could prove fruitful for the both of us."

"So we journey together then?"

"It seems like that is the only other option, besides separating."

"Well, a journey it is!" The ebony-haired thief laughed heartily, his head thrown back, eyes sparkling. However, when he opened his eyes, he caught a red glimmer of light on the wall to his left, and turned his eyes to look at the forgotton jewel behind him. "But can the Flame Diamond come with us?"


End file.
